This present invention relates in general to fiber optic connectors and electrical power cable connectors, and, in particular, to a hybrid fiber optic and power cable connector for simultaneously connecting mating pairs of optical fibers and mating pairs of electrical power conductors.
Prior art fiber optic connectors have been provided for connecting optical fibers for transmitting light signals. Electrical connectors have also been provided for connecting electrical conductors to power electrically operated equipment. Such connectors have been used for connecting signal towers to switching stations for wireless telecommunication installations. The signal towers are often located at remote distances from telecommunication switching equipment and power connections, requiring that both signal conductors and power conductors be run between the signal tower and switching equipment. In the past, data connections were provided by electrical conductors, which usually were run separately from power conductors due to EMF interference concerns and shielding constraints. With an increase in the number or broadband wireless installations, more fiber optic cables have been installed for transmitting data signals between signal towers and switching equipment. The optical fibers of such cables have also been installed separately from electric power conductors, such that separate fiber optic connectors and electric power connectors were provided for connecting optical fibers and for connecting electric power conductors, respectively.
Fiber optic connectors have been provided by connectors having main bodies defined by metallic, outer sleeves. Inserts were mounted in forward ends of the outer sleeves for receiving termini assemblies, which were mounted to the terminal ends of respective optical fibers. One or more termini retainers were provided for securing the termini within the inserts. Alignment sleeves were provided for receiving the terminal ends of the termini of mating optical fibers being connected together, to align the optical fibers for transmitting light signals. Insert caps were secured to the outward ends of the inserts for securing alignment sleeves within the inserts. A rear seal body was secured in the rearward end of the outer sleeve. The rear seal body was fixedly mounted to the fiber optic cable being connected and was secured in the outer sleeve to secure the outer housing to the fiber optic connector in fixed relation to the cable. The rear seal body had a conically shaped profile for mating with a conically shaped member to retain a portion of an outer sheath or an armor of the fiber optic cable in a fixed relation between the conically shaped profiles. Seals were also provided for sealing between the forward end of the outer sleeve and the insert, and the rear seal body and the rearward end of the outer sleeve. The outer sleeve, the insert, the termini retainer, the insert cap and the rear seal body were typically formed of metallic components, with each piece being separately made and requiring assembly to provide and to service such connectors.
The outer sleeves of the above prior art connectors typically provided the structural members to which the insert bodies and insert caps were secured in the forward ends of the connectors, and to which the rear seal bodies were secured in the rearward ends of the connectors. This required that the outer sleeves be of certain wall thicknesses to provide structural integrity for maintaining the insert bodies and the rear seal bodies in fixed relation within the outer sleeve. The required minimum wall thicknesses for the outer sleeves were balanced against the desired maximum outside diameters of the fiber optic couplings and the interior diameter required for receiving the respective insert bodies and rear seal bodies, which are sized for receiving a desired number of optical fiber termini and a desired size of cable, respectively. The above constraints typically resulted in outer sleeve interior diameters which provide limited amounts of cross sectional areas, such that only a limited amount of slack may be provided in the portion of the optical fibers which extended between the inserts and the rear seal bodies due to constraints resulting from required minimum bend radiuses for the optical fibers. Since only nominal amounts of excess lengths of the optical fibers were provided within the outer sleeves of such connectors, usually all of the termini would have to be replaced when only one termini required replacement.
A hybrid, electro-optic coupling is provided having a hybrid connector and a hybrid receptacle for coupling both mating optical fibers for transmitting light signals and mating power conductors for transmitting power. The hybrid connector has a forward insert which is preferably formed as a single piece of non-conductive plastic. A forward portion of the outer housing of the connector is over molded onto the insert, with the forward housing being preferably formed of a conductive plastic. A recess is formed into a rearward end of the insert for receiving a forward end of a centrally disposed support member. The support member is molded of a non-conductive plastic and has a shank which extends rearward from the insert, centrally disposed along a longitudinally extending centerline of the hybrid connector to provide a strut which provides structural support for separating the insert from the rearward end of the connector. A forward end of the shank of the support member has a retainer ring integrally formed thereon. The profiles of the edge of the retainer ring and the inner surface of the recess in the insert body are formed in a configuration for aligning in mating engagement to define recesses for retaining the termini in fixed positions, with alignment sleeves for the termini retained within the insert. The rearward portion of the support member is enlarged for threadingly securing to a rearward portion of the hybrid connector. The rearward portion of the support member has a passage for passing the optical fibers and the power conductors through the rearward portion of the central support member, and then aside of the shank. The exterior diameter of the shank is sufficiently small in relation to the interior diameter of the forward housing, such that the optical fibers and power conductors may be wrapped around the shank to provide sufficient slack for rebuilding a singular terminus without requiring that each of the termini be rebuilt to replace a single termini and accommodating minimum bend radiuses for the optical fibers.